The Numbered

Chapter Five

Lynne carefully removed Hannah's shoes and returned them to the wardrobe. She closed the door and turned back to see the smoke-blackened face of her daughter. A sob escaped her lips. Having already lost one child, she would rather die herself than experience losing another.

"Mrs Green, please sit down. Let me make you a cup of tea to help with shock or something."

Lynne smiled at her daughter's best friend who was seated in the corner of the room. "That's kind of you, Shane, but I'm good, thanks." Lynne approached the nightstand, wrung out the sponge that was floating in the basin of warm water and carefully began to wipe the soot and dirt off Hannah's face. Every so often, Hannah would cry out and thrash around before settling back down. Lynne took in the gentle upturn of Hannah's nose, the cupids brow of her lips and the thickness of her eye lashes. Seventeen years had passed and yet Lynne could still make out the baby she had been blessed with. At times she thought she saw a likeness to her late husband, but that was wishful thinking. The baby that had really shared his mop of black hair, full lips and button nose had been taken from her within mere minutes of his birth. She stroked Hannah's cheek gently and forced the other child from her mind.

Shane sat glued to the chair and hadn't moved in two hours, except to help calm Hannah when she screamed out. Shane and Hannah had been best friends since they were very small. When their compulsory education was ended at the age of 14, they had remained close even though they'd moved into the world of work and service. Lynne had always thought Shane was more than a little keen on Hannah, but the panic etched on his face as he burst through the front door with Hannah, unconscious in his arms, showed something more than just friendship. Shane was clearly in love with Hannah.

"I don't know where to start in thanking you for saving my daughter," Lynne said quietly, as tears rolled down her cheeks. It was obvious Shane was having a problem keeping his own emotions in check.

"That's ok, Mrs Green. I did what anyone would have done," he mumbled. They both knew that wasn't quite true.

A few minutes later Hannah's eyes fluttered open.

"Quick she's waking up. Hello, my love. You're safe now my darling."

Hannah opened her eyes a little more and tried to speak, but her lungs- intent on cleaning themselves out- set off a choking fit. Lynne reached for the glass of water by the basin and offered it to Hannah as her coughing subsided. Overcome with thirst, the girl grabbed at the glass and tried to take big quenching gulps.

"Go easy, Hannah," Shane cautioned, "you'll start to choke again". Her eyes opened wide when she heard her friends voice and tried to sit up further in the bed.

"He pulled you from the house, just as the fire took hold downstairs. If it hadn't been for Shane..." Lynne's voice wobbled.

In a split second, the expression on Hannah's face went from confusion to fear. "What about Mary and the little ones?" she gasped.

"Hush now sweetheart, you need to remain calm." Lynne sat down on the bed and took hold of Hannah's hands. She took a deep breath. "The guards said that the smoke would have been so thick, so quickly, that ..." Her voice broke, but she carried on, "...that, they would have been gone before the fire ever reached them."

Hannah shook her head from side to side. "What do you mean, the smoke got to them first?" She moved so she was now completely upright in the bed. "They... weren't... in... the... house." Every word was punctuated with a deep, rasping cough. "They were taken... out before... somebody set the fire."

Hannah began to shake and her barely audible speech was slightly slurred.

"Hannah, I think you are going into shock. Please lay down again and try to focus only on your breathing."

Clearly exhausted, Hannah complied with her mother's wishes.

"That's it, in, out, in, out. Keep going."

It took several minutes for Hannah to calm down enough to talk.

"They weren't in the house mum," she whispered.

"The guards found their bodies upstairs in the children's bedroom, together. They are blaming it on a gas lamp being knocked over. The poor family. They had only just started to get back on their feet..."

Tears began to run down Hannah's cheeks, making paths through the remaining soot her mother had yet to clean off. She went to reply, but began coughing again. Lynne raised her fingers to Hannah's mouth to quieten her.

"Love, you've had the most terrible experience but somehow you managed to survive. Now you need to get some sleep. I'm just going to run next door and check on old Mr Roberts. He'll have taken it very badly. He loved Mary and the kids like they were his own family. Shane has kindly offered to sit with you till I get back." Lynne leant over and kissed her daughter's forehead and then went to leave the room.

"Hannah, I lied to the guard who came earlier this evening to gather witness statements. He wanted to speak to you. I told him you were in bed with a headache and that you didn't know anything about the fire".

Hannah looked at her mother, eyes widened with shock. She had never known her mother to be anything but truthful. Lynne saw the surprised look and had to explain.

"Shane found you after the curfew, although what he was doing out and about at that time I do not know," she said giving Shane a questioning look. "We can't afford any breaches, Hannah. If they knew you were out after curfew your Father's work schedule might be reduced as a penalty. We just can't risk losing any more money or privileges. Goodness knows we have too few of them anyway."

Hannah glanced over to Shane and then back to her mother.

"The guard is going to call back in the morning. Your father will be home by then. You won't say anything will you?" Lynne asked, trying not to sound like she was pleading.

"I won't, I promise," Hannah mouthed.

"Good girl." Lynne picked up the basin of dirty water and left the room.

Hannah waited to hear her mother leave by the back door. As soon as she heard the door close she turned quickly to face Shane.

"They were taken Shane. I don't know who by but they were taken. They hurt Zach, I heard them. If I hadn't of hidden behind a chair they would have taken me too. They did not die in that fire". Hannah sobbed out the last few words and Shane jumped forward and took her in his arms. He hugged her and rocked her until the sobbing ebbed away.

"I believe you. I saw them too, well I think I did. I didn't see Mary or the kids but there were a group of men surrounding the house. I thought they were out looking for curfew breakers so I ran away for a bit. When I came back they'd disappeared. I was about to go home when I heard you banging on the back door. I tried everything to get that back door open. When the banging stopped I honestly thought you were ..."

Shane went quiet.

Hannah lifted her head and turned to look at him. The dark hair and rounded face she had known forever looked somehow different to her now. She lifted her hand and gently touched the red birth mark which covered the lower part of his left cheek. Unused to such affection, Shane flinched slightly at her touch. Hannah raised her other hand and touched the other side of his face. In the candle light his eyes looked almost black, yet filled with an intensity she had never seen before. Slowly, she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his lips. "Thank you," she whispered and then, a little louder, "Someone took them, Shane. What are we going to do about it?"